PSEi reclaims 6,500 on hunt for cheap buys

Investors hunted for some bargains after a day of profit-taking, allowing the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) to return to the 6,500 territory on Thursday.

The benchmark PSEi climbed by 0.87 percent, or 56.31 points, to close at 6,519.11 while the broader All Shares index rose 0.72 percent, or 24.70 points, to settle at 3,440.59 by the closing bell.

“The index returned above the 6,500 level on thin trading as investor sentiment remained positive about the local market’s prospects for 2024,” China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said.

“We saw the same optimism across most Asian markets on the back of growing bets on the dovish direction of interest rates next year,” he added.All sectors were in the green. The industrial and service indices were the biggest winners with gains of 1.12 percent and 0.97 percent, respectively.

About 385.53 million shares valued at P2.8 billion were traded. Advancers led decliners, 124 to 61, while 36 issues were unchanged.

The most actively traded company, Ayala Land Inc., increased by 0.29 percent to P34.40.

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It was followed by Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.97 percent to P104.50; BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.39 percent to P129.10; Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., down 0.47 percent to P96.05; Manila Electric Co., up 1.27 percent to P398; and SM Investments Corp., up 0.56 percent to P894.

Other active names were International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 1.34 percent to P242.20; SM Prime Holdings, up 0.60 percent to P33.60; San Miguel Corp., up 1 percent to P111; and Jollibee Foods Corp., up 1.13 percent to P249.80. INQ